IASSW  Statement on the World Mental Health Day 2022

In support with: East European subregional Association of the Schools of Social Work and The Global Social Service Workforce Alliance

1. We remember those whose lives, families, homes and health have been and continue to be destroyed by wars.
2. We reflect upon the practical role social workers and the social work profession can play in the context of armed conflict and in the area of mental health recovery during post-war contexts.
3. We recognise that the cumulative impact of systematic and multi-dimensional threat, shock and exhaustion endured during the Russian invasion on Ukraine has been devastating for everyone living in Ukraine including professionals and people living outside the country.
4. We promote social work ethics and their application to the role that social workers can take in contributing to the hope and resilient mental health of individuals, families and communities, in protecting rights, supporting relationships and building communities.
5. We anticipate the need to be both persistent and flexible in collaborative support for frontline social work and mental health services in the context of war and recovery phases.
6. We endorse the need to prepare social workers to be educated and trained in the knowledges and skills to respond with preventative, responsive and restorative services in the context of armed political conflicts.
7. We support social work research in the area of social work and war and its aftermath for the well-being of individuals and groups.
8. We are learning from the experience of Ukrainian social work educators, practitioners as well as those who survived other wars and wish to celebrate the courage and creativity of those who persist in providing social work and mental health services within this and other wars.